24 Hour Twitter Chatter -or- Blogger Blogging Bloggers

Great NBA holiday weekend, with a slew of entertaining games headlined the Kobe vs Monta shoot-out on Friday and 2 exhilarating Los Angeles Clippers games. Blake Griffin exploded in record fashion on MLK Day, but more impressively, Zach Harper kept ESPN.com's Daily Dime Live going for over 12 friggin; hours! I could hardly keep up with all the NBA (and other weird) goodness flying around Twitter, but I tried. Click on the names to take you to these dope Twitter pages. Let's go...

• First and foremost,  High Fivernator of Absolut-ism.com with a sobering take on how cavalierly we treat the day we set aside in memory of one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. Sneakers sales and a Rick Ross promotion, not a good look.

• Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com investigates the "Big Apple" phenomena when it comes to NBA players. THe Knicks were disgustingly bad for about a decade, and yet it's still regarded as a hoops hotbed. Good stuff.

Blake Griffin was an EXTREMELY hot topic, and with good reason; he led his Clips to a HUGE wins over the Lakers on Friday, then dropped a Scud-Missiled sized gem of a game on the over-matched  Indiana Pacers.

•  Sam Amick posted on USAToday's Game On! about Blake's habit of grinding opponents' gears. James Posey reaction to Blake trying to give him dap after the final horn is the single funniest thing I've read.

"He gave us 40-something and I'm gonna shake his hand and thank him? Nah, I'm good."

• J.E. Skeets of The Basketball Jones sent out Trey Kerby's amazing 2-minute video unveiling all 47 of Blake's record detonation versus Indy.
• How huge was he that night? Truehoop's Henry Abbott put's Griffin's historic night into perspective: 2, and only 2 rookies have been so productive, EVER.

• Sticking with Abbott, he examines a topic that I recently touched on myself; Carmelo Anthony's position in the pantheon of the NBA. Star? Superstar? Gunner? Abbott give an extremely fair look at the facts and stats.
• Royce Young from CBSSports says LeBron might have planted the seed for Melo's departure (ANOTHER dang thing that's Bron's fault!).

• Zach McCann looks at the roller coaster that the Orlando Magic season has been- canceled games, viral domination, roster shuffles, it's a wacky ride.



"How is this a FOUL!?!?"

• J.E. Sheets from The Basketball Jones swings back through with word of a little Boston Bravado. Celts Big Baby and KG sound alot like the Rasheed/McDyess Pistons when dissecting their coverage of Dwight Howard. I'm pretty sure this is the 1st time in print history the word "finesse" has been used to describe Dwight Howard's game.
• My man JR. at CelticsLife.com has a different angle on Big Baby's comments- basically, Baby needs to zip his lip and play his role. Either way you look at it, Boston has dominated Orlando in the wins column lately, but Howard DID go for 33 pts and 13 boards, so maybe Big Baby Davis and Garnett might wanna tone down the "handling Howard" talk.

• OK, Tom Ziller at Team Ziller dropped this bomb on me from Lithuaniabasket - A basketball experiment gone wrong. 124 3 pointers. 108 team boards. A jealous Eddie House. If Roylandas Dovydaitas was pulling this crap while we played Live '98, I'm slapping his face then shutting the game off.

• Can't Stop The Bleeding Tweets (CSTB) tells us about everyone's favorite G, Stringer Bell (actor Idris Elba), being honored with a housing development bearing his name over in England. Word is Avon already got those tower boys hoppin'.

• 

  "Hey, Der-" "Shut the &$% up."

  Art Garcia of NBA.com's Hang Time blog weighs in on Charles Barkley's proclamation of Derrick Rose as the league's premier PG, surpassing Deron Williams. Personally, one hot stretch does not "Best Point in the L" make; Deron Williams will concede the title if Rose keeps up this torrid pace and blazes deep into the playoffs. Maybe.

• The homies at Got 'Em Coach! unearth Kobe' Bryant's diabolical public relation plot from Camp Mamba. I wouldn't put it past Bean...

•  Robert Littal of BlackSportsOnline hit me with this one-Rashad McCants: NC Tarheel Standout. NBA Enigma- Bisexual gangster thief ringleader. Also, with old pornstars. Yeah. Read it.

• And Jemele Hill with the show-stopper; I almost dropped my phone when she tweeted that Luther Cambell- yes, THE Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew “Me So Horny” fame- may run for Mayor of Miami Dade County. What more can I say.

Mayor Campbell and his Brain Trust.

Questions or comments? Wanna tell me how much I suck? Hire me to pen your memoirs? Hit me here or on Twitter @SnottieDrippen.

24 Hour Twitter Stuff: Bloggers Blogging Bloggers

The Heat, REELING. OKC going in on Orlando (Dwight did his part this time, they're still a work in progress...). I refuse to talk about The Guy in Denver, not gonna happen. But there was plenty to talk about in the NBA. Here's a veritable smorgasborg of NBA blogger-writer goodness...

• Zach Harper sounds off on Hardwood Paroxysm about the whole bruhaha about LeBron James' image.

 "Now, LeBron is embracing his villainous stature like he gets nourishment from eating babies, stomping on puppies and masturbating to I Hate Orphans Quarterly. We see the change right before our very eyes. It didn’t start with The Decision or whatever the hell he was doing during the 2010 playoffs against the Celtics. It began the night he went to Cleveland and tried to put out the inferno by using Chevron With Techron."

Reminds me of when Hulk Kogan broke the hearts of millions of young Hulkamanics and went with the dark 12 O'clock stubble. Embrace the evil, LBJ.





Yup. "Dead Bird".


• Zach and Raul Takahashi of HotHotHoops watched the Clippers dismantling of the Heat and formulated the Nickame of the Decade. Thanks for your crappy play,  Carlos "Dead Bird" Arroyo.

• Robert Littal of BlackSportsOnline tips his hat to the not-so-subliminal heat Wes Welker aims at the J-E-T-S. All the tough talk by Antonio Cromartie looks foolish after this slick talk. Well played, Wes.

• Scott Schoeder at NBA Fanhouse let's us know about Joe Alexander, a favorite around these parts, is wrecking shop in the D-League and biding his time until a call up. 20-11 and almost 4 dimes a game, while settling in to a better fit at power forward? Yeah, he'll be back in the L.

• Kelly Dwyer from Ball Don't Lie on chimes in on the Rip Hamilton benching and offers some smart insight on the Brook Lopez/Avery Johnson tension. He hit's the nail on the head; the coach, as the "teacher", has GOT to figure out a way to get through to the youngster. The funny thing is, as an ex-player, you'd figure Lil General would be more adept at dealing with his team.


• Kurt Helin from ProBasketballTalk comes through wrecking shop; he hits on the rumblings about where Anthony Randolph might get ANOTHER chance, discusses the sad state of Portland Trailblazers' Brandon Roy's knees, and the Clippers' upcoming dilemma; 2 burgeoning centers, one starting spot-what to do with Chris Kaman?

• Get Banged On's Chris with video that teaches an important lesson: you make him angry, and Blake Griffin will find you...THERE WILL BE DUNKS.

Finally, The Basketball Jones blogger J.E.Skeets linked one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. 1st Mike Tyson (sorry Iron Mike). Then Stephon Marbury. The Game. Now Gucci Mane gets a $%#$ ICE CREAM CONE tatted on his face. Look at that picture. Lightning bolts. Ice cream. a healthy scoop of WTF. From this small sample of entertainers/athletes, I'm deducing "face tattoo = cry for attention/slide into insanity".

Questions or comments? Wanna tell me how much I suck? Hire me to pen your memoirs? Hit me here or on Twitter @SnottieDrippen.

Quick Hitters

First things 1st, a huge, LOUD shout-out to Zach Harper, AKA "DDL ALL DAY", of TalkHoop.net, he showed love and gave Ball Above All tremendous props during a live ESPN event a couple of days ago. He makes blogging look easy, which I'm realizing is the hardest feat of all.  So I finally get to catch a breath; since the Clips/Utah game on the 28th, it's been go-go-go-go; eating, driving, eating, laughing with fam, eating. Eating. But I kept one eye on the games, or on the articles and blogs about games, and I got to say that this has been ONE AMAZINGLY entertaining season. See, I watch the NB to see really fast, extremely tall cats try and dunk over, break the ankles of, or shoot the eyes out of other behemoths, and for the storylines: think of it as the male version of soap operas. This season hasn't disappointed. I mean:

• What's wrong with Chris Paul? I've watched when his games were televised, and the 1st 2 weeks of the season, he was like a dribbling Napoleon; no matter if he was one of the smaller dudes on the court, just the way he carried himself said I'm Gonna Beat You. Now? I was blown away to see that he was the leader in PER. Beckley Mason of HoopSpeak has a smart analysis that explains why numbers can be deceiving. Is this a case of efficient < raw dominance? I remember a couple of years ago, before I had NBA League Pass, when you saw Hornets highlights, you saw Paul as a whirling dervish who alternately overpowered, out-quicked, and simply flummoxed defenders with sleight-of-hand. He was just BETTER. Now, according to Beckley:

              "Perhaps some of this has to do with the six footer’s ongoing recovery from his 2009 knee injury. Paul, who claims to be healthy, seems to lack his typical burst in the open court, though in the half court his strength and explosive lateral quickness still allow him to penetrate nearly at will. That is, in short distances, Paul remains elite, though his full court sprint is no longer as impressive.

   And though Paul is producing more efficiently than ever before, he’s also producing less. His point per game average of 16.5 is Paul’s lowest since his rookie season, and his assists per game are under 10 for the first time since 2007."

DEFINITELY worth watching. IS this a Melo case; he's trying, but not TRYING trying? Naaaah...

"Pau...tired. Pau...sleeeep."

Speaking of which...What's going on with Pau Gasol? For stretches last season and early on this year, Pau wore the crown of BBMITG (Best Big Man In The Game) quite easily; for all of Dwights breathtaking physical dominance and the volleyball spike-blocks, Pau was a consummate craftman with a veritable tool chest to work with. Now, as I've mentioned before, he's all but invisible for games at a time, and  even die-hard Laker lovers are questioning his seemingly untouchable All-Star status (thanks, Darius Soriano). Personally, as much as I admire his game, his marked decline in production and his horrible neckbeard should make him an observer during All Star weekend, maybe Kobe's Bag Caddie.

"Sup. Where my money."

Sports is all about controlled struggle and conflict, and elite athletes perform against the opposition walking a line between agression and anger all the time. Sometimes that boils over in negative ways, with teammates slugging teammates. In baseball, in college, in football, in soccer. Sometimes, like at Kansas, they mix it up. The point is, it happens. So when 2 young NBA players like Tony Allen and OJ Mayo get amped up and a scuffle ensues, why the outrage? Gambling, girls, playing time, missed assignments; no matter the reason, it IS part of - not just their world - the world in general. I'm not condoning the fight, but at the same time, I think banning gambling, even a partial ban like Ken Berger of CBSSports suggests, is NOT the answer (although the esteemed writers at CBSSports alternatives to Bourre' had me rolling). Let's stop the knee jerk reactions and admit that no matter the situation, Charles Oakley's bullyfoot handling of Tyrone Hill back in 2001 is awesome.



"Tall enough. Now lemme see your teeth."



On a serious note, when will David Stern shut down Donald Sterling's foolishness? Heckling your own players is bad enough, but add in the litany of gross, racist, and bizarre behavior compiled here, and doesn't SOMETHING have to be done? I understand that courts need undeniable evidence, but as the caretaker of a multi-billion dollar sport, doesn't the onus fall on Stern to protect the image of the NBA, not just from the players bad behavior, but owner malfeasance (we're looking at you, Marge Schott)? And as this thoughtful Jemele Hill piece from a while back asks, where is the PLAYER outrage? We can't move forward as a country if we turn a blind eye to such blatant ignorance.

 Oh, yeah. The Miami "debacle"? Um...never mind. Heat are on....FIRE right now. Bosh been killin', Wade been killin', LBJ, he's got the top billin'. I guess we all should apologize to Spolestra. Still not sold on the "legit" contender noise, the bench is suspect, but DANG, they run deadly breaks and are showing defensive chops. Stay tuned....

What are some of the stories that get you pumped in the L right now? Hit me here, on Facebook, or on Twitter! (james2477911)